12:22 SAD MP joins Cong: MP Sher Singh Ghubaya from Ferozpur (Punjab) joins Indian National Congress. Sher Singh had resigned from Shiromani Akali Dal, yesterday.
12:13 ‘Abhinandan is a typically aggressive fighter pilot’: Air Vice Marshal Arjun Subramanian (retd) has flown both the MiG-21 and Mirage 2000 fighter aircraft. The fighter pilot served the Indian Air Force for 36 years and is an erudite and scholarly voice on strategic affairs.
The author of three books, Air Vice Marshal Subramanian is a visiting professor at Ashoka University and the Jindal School of International Affairs.
He was formerly a visiting professor at the Fletcher School of Diplomacy and a visiting fellow at Harvard, Oxford and Northeastern Universities.
The pilot-scholar-commentator spoke to Rediff.com’s Archana Masih about the impact of the IAF’s daring missions last week.
Image: Wing Commander Abhinandan Varthaman with Defence Minister Nirmala Sitaraman at the Air Force Central Medical Establishment, March 2, 2019.
12:08 Extremists, aided & abetted by State seeking to destabilise India, behind Pulwama attack: Navy chief: The Pulwama attack was perpetrated by extremists and “aided by a State” that seeks to destabilise India, Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba said on Tuesday. Addressing a gathering of global experts from defence sector and diplomats at the Indo-Pacific Regional Dialogue, in New Delhi, Lanba said the region had witnessed multiple forms of terrorism in recent years and few countries in this part of the world had been spared.
The global nature that terrorism has acquired in the recent times has further enhanced the scope of this threat, he said. India, however, faces a “far more serious” version of terrorism, the Navy chief said.
“We recently had the extremist attack in Jammu and Kashmir about three weeks ago. This violence was perpetrated by extremists aided and abetted by a State that seeks to destabilise India,” the Navy chief said.
“We also have reports of terrorists being trained to carry out operations in various modus operandi, including through the medium of the sea,” he added.
On February 14, a suicide bomber of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into a bus in Jammu and Kashmir’s Pulwama district, killing 40 Central Reserve Police Force personnel. — PTI
12:04 Spice-2000 bombs used in Balakot will also be put in Sukhoi-30s: The Indian Air Force is equipping its Su-30MKI combat aircraft with the Israeli Spice-2000 bombs which were used by the force to carry out air strikes on the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorists training camp inside Pakistan.
Talking about the quick deployment of forces by the Air Force on the western frontier of Pakistan, top Indian Air Force sources told ANI that the force has been successful in doing so due to the exercise GaganShakti held last year where the service practiced to carry out high tempo operations on both the possible fronts.
At the moment, the only aircraft which is capable of delivering the bombs on enemy targets is the Mirage 2000. But now the Air Force is putting them on the Su-30s as well to further enhance their firepower, government sources told ANI.
India had acquired more than 200 of these bombs from Israel a few years back and the Su-30MKI has already carried out trials of launching the Spice-2000 on ground targets, they said.
“After a few more trials, the Su-30 fleet would be equipped with these bombs which rely on coordinates and satellite pictures of the target to home in and destroy the intended targets,” the sources said.
Once the integration is successful, it would be a big force multiplier for the Air force as the only planes which can launch these bombs right now are the Mirage 2000s.
The IAF has only around three squadrons of these planes whereas the service has already inducted more than 250 of these aircraft and has planes of getting around 20 more by the end of next year.
The Air Force used the Spice-2000 bombs extensively during the air strikes on Pakistan on February 26 decimating the intended target in Balakote in Khyber Pakhtunwa province of Pakistan in form of the Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp.
The attacks were carried out by the Air force to avenge the Pulwama suicide terrorist attack in which 40 CRPF troopers were killed.
Image: Sukhoi-30
11:37 India downplays US decision to withdraw zero-tariff policy:
India reacts to US decision to withdraw India’s name from GSP program list. Commerce Secretary Anup Wadhawan says the government of India has to be conscious of and public welfare interests. “We have very deep routed ties with USA. All the issues in the trade domain are on the table for discussions. We will not compromise on affordability of medical devices. Economic value of GSP benefits are very moderate.
“Our effort was to balance the affordable prices of the medical devices without compromising on public welfare. USA to terminate GSP in 60 days. Our relations remain strong with USA and discussions will go on. Our assessment is that this will not have any significant impact on our 5.6 billion dollar exports to the US,”
President Donald Trump on Monday announced his decision to withdraw India from the list of countries enjoying the Generalised System of Preferences programme on goods exported to the US.
Trump said the decision was taken as India no longer comply with the statutory eligibility criteria. Under the GSP or zero-tariff policy measures, India enjoys tariff concession costing to USD 5.6 billion of exports to the US. India has been the world’s largest beneficiary of the GSP scheme that has been in force since the 1970s.
Image: No handouts: PM Modi with US president Donald Trump in the US in June 2017
11:12
Former J&K CM Mehbooba Mufti tweets, “Little surprise that with General Elections around the corner,the josh of patriotism hasn’t even spared the skies.” Y’day,Air India issued a circular to all cabin crew&cockpit crew directing them to say’ Jai Hind’ aftr any announcement onboard.”
10:39 Trump decides to withdraw Indias name from GSP program list: United States President Donald Trump on Monday announced his decision to withdraw India from the list of countries enjoying the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) program on goods exported to the US.
Trump said the decision was taken as India no longer comply with the statutory eligibility criteria.
Under the GSP or zero-tariff policy measures, India enjoys tariff concession costing to USD 5.6 billion of exports to the US. India has been the world’s largest beneficiary of the GSP scheme that has been in force since the 1970s. — ANI
Dost dost na raha: US president Donald Trump, Melania Trump and PM Modi at the White House in June 2017.
10:29 BJP minister asks Sibal to go to Balakot to check body count: Hitting out at Congress leader Kapil Sibal for his remarks on the February 26 IAF strike, Union Minister Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore on Monday asked him to go to Balakot in Pakistan to check after the latter cited foreign media reports on “no losses” in the operation.
Amid the war of words between BJP and Congress on the air raid, Rathore tweeted, “You believe international media over own Intelligence agencies? You seem happy when media quoted by you says no losses in strike?…and sir, for us you went to London to find evidence against EVMs, will you please also go to Balakot to check?”
He was quoting a tweet of Sibal in which the Congress leader had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of politicising terror.
Sibal had tweeted, “Modiji, Is international media – New York Times, London based Jane’s Information Group, Washington Post, Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, Reuters, reporting no proof of militant losses at Balakot pro-Pakistan? You are guilty of politicising terror?”
Locking horns after Indian Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa’s remarks on Monday on the air strike, BJP had charged Congress with politicising the issue while the Opposition party sought the source of statements being made by BJP leaders with regards to the number of casualties at the Jaish-e-Mohammed camp in Balakot.
Addressing the media, Dhanoa had said fighter pilots had hit the target given to them, adding that he could not give the number of casualties suffered as it is for the government to clarify.
Earlier on Sunday, BJP chief Amit Shah, while addressing a rally in Ahmedabad, had claimed that 250 terrorists were killed in the air strike.
— ANI
10:16 Universal basic income is hardly a new idea: “The ideas of public works to employ the poor, and food rations (what we in India called the PDS or the public distribution system) can be traced to Johannes Ludovicus Vives around the same time: “Even those who have dissipated their fortunes in dissolute living — through gaming, harlots, excessive luxury, gluttony and gambling — should be given food, for no one should die of hunger. However, smaller rations and more irksome tasks should be assigned to them so that they may be an example to others… They must not die of hunger, but they must feel its pangs… Even to the old and the stupid, it should be possible to give a job they can learn in a few days, such as digging holes, getting water or carrying something on their shoulders… being busy and engrossed in their work, they will abstain from those wicked thoughts and actions in which they would engage if they were idle.”
10:11 How war rhetoric is affecting children: Class VI girl Eepsha Aamon stopped talking to a classmate who told her that “Pakistanis are bad and Modi is right to attack them”. Sociology undergraduate Lakshmi Padmakumar is tired of the daily marches outside her flat, near Delhi University’s North Campus, with loudspeakers blaring: “Pakistan murdabad (death to Pakistan)!”
Both Eepsha and Lakshmi, born in the years after the Kargil conflict, were part of a human chain in front of the Jantar Mantar monuments, organised as an anti-war protest on Monday by a string of NGOs and trade unions.
10:02 Indian man-Pakistani girl’s wedding called off: A marriage between a Pakistani bride and an Indian groom here was called off after tensions mounted between the two countries following Pulwama attack which claimed lives of 40 CRPF personnel.
Mahendra Singh, the groom residing in Khejad Ka Paar village in the border district of Barmer had booked tickets to the Thar Express for Saturday and was supposed to tie the knot with Chagan Kanwar of Sinoi village in Amarkot district of Sindh province.
According to the railways, the train was not allowed to leave due to the suspension of its operation by Pakistan authorities in the wake of soaring tensions between the two nations. The train used to run between Pakistan’s Lahore and India’s Attari on Monday and Thursday.
Speaking to ANI, Mahendra Singh, said, “We faced a lot of issues in getting visas. I spoke to Gajendra Singh for getting the visas for Pakistan. It was only because of him that we were able to get visas for five people. We had made all preparations and distributed invitation cards to the relatives.”
— ANI
Image: A still from the film, Raazi, where Alia Bhatt played an Indian married to a Pakistani man.
09:39 Delhi tops list of most polluted cities, says new report:
The national capital has topped the list of the most polluted cities in the world in a recent study conducted by environment NGO Greenpeace India.
New Delhi was ranked first among 62 polluted cities in the report, Global Air Pollution 2018, a statement from the organisation said.
The report will officially be released on Tuesday.
The report accompanies an extended online interactive display of the world’s most polluted cities, allowing further exploration of air quality across different regions and subregions in 2018, it said.
“The real-time status of all included locations, together with many more, can also be explored through the IQAir AirVisual Air Quality Map, which brings together live air quality readings in one accessible place,” the NGO said.
The report measures the air quality in terms of PM2.5 data as aggregated through the IQAir AirVisual platform in 2018, it said.
— PTI
09:29 Second man seems to be free of AIDS virus after transplant:
Researchers say a London man appears to be free of the AIDS virus after a stem cell transplant.
It’s the second such success including “Berlin patient” Timothy Ray Brown.
Such transplants are dangerous and have failed in other patients.
The new findings were published online Monday by the journal Nature.
The London patient has not been identified.
He was diagnosed with HIV in 2003. He developed cancer and agreed to a stem cell transplant to treat the cancer in 2016.
His doctors found a donor with a gene mutation that confers natural resistance to HIV.
The transplant changed the London patient’s immune system, giving him the donor’s HIV resistance.
08:44 Encounter breaks out between terrorists and security forces in Tral:
Encounter broke out between terrorists and security forces in Tral of south Kashmir’s Pulwama district.
Local sources said that exchange of fire continued for about one hour and the house in which terrorist were hiding has been blasted.
Security forces cordoned the area on Monday evening around 8 pm, after which a contact was established between the terrorists and security forces around 4:30 am on Tuesday.
Government officials had the information of two terrorists being trapped in Tral and that they were hiding in a house.
More reinforcement was rushed to the spot.
Presently firing has stopped and search operation is going in the area.
08:06 Trump says he plans to end India’s preferential trade treatment:
Arguing that India had failed to assure America that it would provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets in numerous sectors, US President Donald Trump on Monday informed the US Congress about his intent to terminate the designation of India and Turkey as a beneficiary developing country under the Generalised System of Preferences programme.
In a letter to the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, Trump said he was determined that New Delhi had “not assured” the United States that it would “provide equitable and reasonable access” to the markets of India.
“I will continue to assess whether the Government of India is providing equitable and reasonable access to its markets, in accordance with the GSP eligibility criteria,” Trump said in his letter, a copy of which was released to the press.
In a separate letter, Trump also informed the Congress of his intent to terminate the GSP beneficiary designation of Turkey. This was primarily because the economy of Turkey had improved a lot in the last four-and-a-half decades, he said.
Trump’s letter to Pelosi could be seen as a major setback in India-US bilateral relationship, in particular in the arena of trade and economy.
In a separate statement, the US Trade Representative said India’s termination from GSP followed its failure to provide the US with assurances that it would provide equitable and reasonable access to its markets in numerous sectors.
Under the United States GSP programme, certain products can enter the US duty-free if the beneficiary developing countries meet the eligibility criteria established by Congress.
The GSP criteria include, among others, respecting arbitral awards in favour of US citizens or corporations, combatting child labour, respecting internationally recognised worker rights, providing adequate and effective intellectual property protection and providing the US with equitable and reasonable market access.
— PTI
00:17 Political slugfest breaks out over data theft charge:
A political row broke out over alleged data theft of Andhra Pradesh voters by an IT firm in Hyderabad with the ruling Telugu Desam Party on Monday alleging a cyber conspiracy and seeking transfer of the case registered by the Telangana police to the neighbouring state.
As Telangana police citing preliminary probe claimed the IT company got ‘illegal’ access to details of voters, TDP supremo and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu alleged it was part of a conspiracy to help opposition YSR Congress headed by Jaganmohan Reddy.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and KCR (Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao were helping Jaganmohan Reddy in executing this ‘cyber conspiracy’, he alleged in his teleconference with TDP leaders.
“It is atrocious to steal our data and give it to our rivals,” he said.
Naidu alleged, “The Bihari gang led by (political strategist and JD-U leader) Prashant Kishore is giving such evil advise to the YSRC.”
The YSRC, however, questioned how confidential data related to the state government went into private hands.
“Why is Chandrababu so scared of the investigation? The data theft is part of a plan to remove names of those against the government from the electors list,” YSRC leader and chairman of the Public Accounts Committee Buggana Rajendranath Reddy alleged.
The case against the firm was registered on Saturday on a complaint from a data analyst alleging that TDP cadre were using certain mobile phone and tab-based applications especially ‘Seva Mitra’ app for ‘advancing their party’s electoral prospects’.
It drew protests from Andhra Pradesh ministers and TDP legislators on Sunday with IT Minister N Lokesh in a tweet alleging that Telangana police was harassing the IT firms that have been hired to curate information whose complete rights were held by the TDP.
Hitting back, Telangana Rashtra Samiti working president K T Rama Rao on Monday asked why the TDP was afraid of a probe if it had not done anything wrong.
Naidu should be ‘ashamed of’ his party’s criticism of the Telangana government, Rao said and dared him to face the probe.
“If you have not done the theft, Chandrababu Naidu ji...why should you fear?” he asked.
“It is the TDP which committed the wrong. The (AP) government which is supposed to keep personal data a secret, gives that data to a party, how should it be seen,” he told reporters in Hyderabad.
Rama Rao, son of Telangana CM, also alleged the TDP tried to defame the TRS government on social media through ‘a paid campaign’.
Cyberabad Police Commissioner V C Sajjanar told reporters in Hyderabad that police have issued a notice to the Amazon Web Services, with which the database was said to have been stored, seeking the data.
‘Prima facie, the investigation has revealed’ that the company got access of personal information and sensitive dataof individuals related to Aadhaar, electoral roll, government schemes and voters information of various political parties ‘which can be misused for illegal purposes like alleged deletion of voters’, he said. — PTI
Source: Rediff